Costa Rica: Useful
information about country.
fiogf49gjkf0d In sharp contrast to the brutal internal conflicts in Guatemala or the grinding poverty of Nicaragua,
Costa Rica
has become synonymous with stability and prosperity - Costa Ricans enjoy the highest rate of literacy, health care, education and life expectancy in the isthmus. Unlike so many of its neighbours, the country has a long democratic tradition of free and open elections, no standing army (it was abolished in 1948) and even a Nobel Peace Prize to its name, won by former president, Oscar Arias, a key architect in the Peace Plan that helped bring an end to the conflicts in the region during the 1980s.
In recent years Costa Rica has also become the prime
eco-tourism
destination in Central America, if not in all the Americas, due in no small part to an efficient promotion machine that trumpets the country's complex system of national parks and wildlife refuges. Every year hundreds of thousands of visitors - mainly from the United States and Canada - come to walk trails through million-year-old
rainforests
, raft foaming whitewater rapids, surf on the
Pacific beaches
and climb the
volcanoes
that punctuate the country's mountainous spine. More than anything it is the enduring
natural beauty
that impresses. Milk-thick twilight and dawn mists gather in the clefts and ridges divided by high mountain passes; on the Pacific coast, carmine and mauve sunsets splash down into the sea like meteors; vaulting canopy trees and thick deciduous understoreys carpet large areas of undisturbed rainforest, and vestiges of high-altitude cloudforest offer glimpses into a misty, primeval universe, home to the jaguar, the lumbering Jurassic tapir and the truly resplendent quetzal.
One glib accusation you're almost certain to hear lobbed at the tiny nation is that it has
no culture or history
. It's certainly true that there are no ancient Mesoamerican monuments on the scale of Guatemala or Honduras, and just one percent of the population is of indigenous extraction, so you will see little native culture. However, anyone who spends some time in the country will find that Costa Rica's character is rooted in distinct
local cultures
, from the Afro-Caribbean province of Limon, with its Creole cuisine, games and patois, to the traditional
ladino
values embodied by the
sabanero
(cowboy) of Guanacaste. Above all, you're sure to be left with mental snapshots of
la vida campesina
, or
rural life
- whether it be aloof horsemen trotting by on dirt roads, coffee-plantation day-labourers setting off to work in the dawn mists of the Highlands, or avocado-pickers cycling home at sunset.
More travel guides:
fiogf49gjkf0d Costa Rica
fiogf49gjkf0d History
fiogf49gjkf0d When to go
fiogf49gjkf0d Getting around
fiogf49gjkf0d Where to go
fiogf49gjkf0d Information
fiogf49gjkf0d Opening hours, holidays and festivals
fiogf49gjkf0d Nature
fiogf49gjkf0d Costs, money and banks
fiogf49gjkf0d Mail and telecommunications
fiogf49gjkf0d The media
fiogf49gjkf0d Safety and the police
fiogf49gjkf0d Work and study
fiogf49gjkf0d Eating and drinking
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Costa Rica TOP CITIES :
San Jose Guanacaste Alajuela Santa Cruz Quepos Liberia Jaco La Fortuna Puerto Viejo Limon Puntarenas Tamarindo Atenas De Papagayo Dominical Puntarenas Drake Bay Flamingo Beach Fortuna Gaunacaste Gulfo Dulce Na Herdia Heredia Herradura Jaco Horquetas Jaco Beach La Cruz Liberia Gu Los Suenos Manual Antonio Manuel Antonio Manuel Antonio Puntarenas Marbella Playa Flamingo Playa Framingo Playa Herm Jaco Playas Del Coco Potrero Puerto Viejo Puerto Viejo Li Na Punta Arenas Quesada San Antonio Belen San Carlos San Jose Gu San Jose, San Jose San Pedro San Pedros Montes San Rafael Santa Ana Santa Cruz Guana Santo De Heredia
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